January 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's Vitosha Venture Partners, a financial intermediary selected by the Fund of Funds (FoF) in Bulgaria, has invested a total of 5.1 million levs ($3.1 million/2.6 million euro) in local startups Eljoy, Hobo Bulgaria, Eirene Studio and Quendoo, the FoF said on Monday.
Some 4.4 million levs of the total financing are public funds provided by the FoF under EU's operational programme Innovations and Competitiveness 2014-2020, while 700,000 levs are additionally attracted private capital, the FoF said in a statement.
Eljoy manufactures city/off-road electric bicycles, Hobo Bulgaria is the first local micro-mobility startup for shared travel with electric scooters, Eirene Studio is a design company for luxury fashion, while Quendoo is a digital platform that allows owners of accommodation facilities to control and manage reservations and payments.
The deals with the four companies have already been finalised. Currently, investments in another 15 startups are under negotiation.
Last year, the FoF said that it established a 38 million levs acceleration and seed financing fund jointly with Vitosha Venture Partners to support startups. The Vitosha Venture Partners Fund 1, set up for a period of ten years, includes 35.6 million levs in public funds contributed by EU's operational programme Innovation and Competitiveness 2014-2020, while the remainder of 2.4 million levs is privately sourced, the FoF said at the time.
Also in 2020, the FoF awarded a 3.6 million euro ($4.3 million) contract for setting up and managing a fund for acceleration and seed financing at stage II to Vitosha Venture Partners.
Vitosha Venture Partners Fund 1, managed by Vitosha Venture Partners, will invest in a further 120 startups by the end of 2023, Max Gurvits, managing partner at the financial intermediary said in the statement.
The FoF manages funding under four operational programmes. Its main activity is the structuring and management of financial instruments co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds during the 2014-2020 programming period.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)